After qualifying in philosophy, Paniagua received a doctorate in history with a thesis on
Spanish anarchism. He is a teacher of Social History and Political thought at
UNED (Spain). His early political activity was with the Spanish Communist organisation (
Bandera Roja.)[1] However in 1976 he joined the Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPV) and in 1978 joined the PSOE. He was Director General of Secondary Education in the
Valencian regional administration from 1983-1986.[1] At the
1986 General Election he was elected to the
Spanish Congress of Deputies representing
Valencia Province and was re-elected at the
1989 Election. However, for the
1993 Election he was placed seventh on the PSOE list and with the PSOE losing two of their eight seats, he lost his seat. As first substitute, he returned to the Congress one year later on 10 June 1994, replacing
Vicente Albero. He was re-elected in
1996[2] but did not stand in 2000.